9:40 mins., b&w, sound – Swedish narration and titles.
Production : Svensk Filmindustri and Nordisk Film
Source : ?
This is one of several short films that Paul Fejos made in Madagascar.
The opening titles identify this film as being part of a series called Svarta horisonter (literally , black horizons) but the voice-over also distinguishes the film from the kind of film made in the past in Africa, that is “exotic travelogues with clear racist connotations”. However, this is pronounced over a short sequence in which a Swedish hunter is confronted by a rhinoceros, which he shoots dead, while his African porters climb a nearby tree.
The main body of film shows the daughter of a Bara chief having her hair styled. The voice-over adopts an ironic tone, but this is more sexist than racist in that when the chief’s daughter’s hair is being twisted into shape, it suggests that like their white “sisters”, African women are prepared to suffer to achieve a beautiful hair-style. The final part of the film shows what it claims is the current hair fashion of Anastosy men.
Text : Andersen (2017)